What is Maureen Dowd talking about?

Her NYT column today contains this bit of sheer nonsense:

[Hillary Clinton] has told some Democrats recently that she wanted Obama to agree to allow a roll call vote, like days of yore, so that the delegates of states she won would cast the first ballot for her at the convention. She said she wanted that for her daughter.

Memo to Maureen: there is always a roll-call vote, at every single convention, not just in "days of yore." Obama does not have the ability to "allow" or "disallow" such a vote, because it is the roll-call vote that will make him the nominee, as opposed to the "presumptive nominee."

Nor can Obama force Hillary's delegates to vote in any particular way. The notion that she'll ask him to "allow" her delegates to vote for her makes absolutely no sense, because he has no power to stop them. (And of course many of them will vote for her, even if she drops out beforehand and endorses Obama. I would imagine that Hillary is guaranteed several hundred delegate votes in the roll call, at a bare minimum.)

Perhaps what Dowd was trying to convey is that Hillary intends to use this "allow a roll call vote" concept as a rationale for merely suspending, not ending, her campaign, and not endorsing Obama until after she loses the roll call. That would make some degree of sense. But it's not what Dowd wrote. And if Dowd's sources tell her that Hillary actually believes what Dowd said she believes, then Dowd has a responsibility as a journalist to point out that it's utter nonsense -- just as the journalists who keep mentioning the notion of Obama "paying off Clinton's debts" have a responsibility to point out that it would be illegal for him to do that.

P.S. Just a few quick examples of recent roll-call votes. In 2004, the final Dem tally was Kerry 4,253, Kucinich 43, with 26 abstentions. The 2004 GOP and the 2000 Dems were unanimous for Bush and Gore, respectively, but the GOP in 2000 had 6 roll-call votes for McCain and 1 for Keyes. (Bush got the remaining 2,058.)

In 1996, the Dems were unanimous for Clinton, but the Republican roll call was Dole 1,928, Buchanan 47, Forbes 2, Keyes 1, and -- I remember this well -- 1 vote for Judge Robert Bork. Buchanan also got some roll-call love in 1992, when it was Bush 2,166, Buchanan 18, Keyes 1.

The Democrats in '92 were even more divided: Clinton 3,372, Brown 596, Tsongas 289, Casey 10, Schroeder 5, Agran 3, Gore 1. And if you go back to 1988, you find this: Dukakis 2,687, Jackson 1,218, Biden 2, Gephardt 2, Hart 1, Bentsen 1.

I could go on, but you get the point. Bottom line, there's always a roll call, and it's rarely unanimous. "Days of yore," indeed.

Comments

[Becky]

Brendan, how dare you assume to understand the unassailable wisdom of Maureen Dowd! Can you even remember what life was like in the days of yore...in the year 2004? *Cue Dramatic Music* That was before Google Maps had satellite pictures! Before the iPhone! Before BluRay beat that other format!

[Brendan]

LOL!

[kcatnd]

"beat that other format!"

Made me laugh out loud and spit coffee!

[CORNHUSKERS 94 95 & 97]

Does Hillary really think that Obama is a complete dumb ass?

[David K.]

Stupid Blu-Ray...now my Toshiba HD-DVD player is a glorfied upconverting DVD player. The ONE TIME in the past 50 years Sony wins a format war...

[David K.]

The question Cornhusker is even simpler:

Does Hillary really think?

[Joe Loy]

Well since we're going all politicoNerdy and Days-of-Yorey here anyway, let us harken All the way back to the goldieoldy Rollcalls of my Era :} ~~

Presidential

▪ Barry Goldwater 883
▪ William Scranton 214
▪ Nelson Rockefeller 114
▪ George Romney 41
▪ Margaret Chase Smith 27
▪ Walter Judd 22
▪ Hiram Fong 5
▪ Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. 2

Vice Presidential

William E. Miller was nominated unanimously on a roll call vote.

Ah, yes, Bill Miller: a great American ;}, a staunch Upstate New York Republican, a fine Representative of Niagara & Erie Counties, and one of Notre Dame's loyal sons, Class of '35 :].

[Julie]

It's funny just how uninformed at times the people who are supposed to be informing us can be. I LOVE watching the roll call cause the delegates from each state get so worked up when they cast their votes. It's kinda like the NFL draft just not as orderly. ;)

[Andrew]

Brendan, how can you expect someone who utters nonsense 99% of the time to point out when someone else is saying something that is utter nonsense?